Prosecutors: Man who killed member of Parliament shot, stabbed her saying ‘This is for Britain’

The man accused of killing British lawmaker Jo Cox appeared in court Saturday morning and defiantly gave his name as “Death to traitors, freedom for Britain.”

Thomas Mair, 52, spoke the words after being asked for his name in Westminster Magistrates’ Court in central London.

“My name is death to traitors, freedom for Britain,” he said. He refused to give his actual name and would not confirm his address or date of birth.

Mair has been charged by West Yorkshire police with murder, grievous bodily harm, firearm possession with intent to commit a crime and other weapons charges.

He is accused of killing Cox, 41, as she exited her car and headed toward a public library to meet constituents Thursday in her home district of Birstall, a small market town outside the northern city of Leeds.

Wearing a gray tracksuit, he looked alert and stoic as he sat in the dock flanked by two security guards. Prosecutor David Cawthorne told the court that Cox had spent that morning at a local school and care home before heading to Birstall Library for a pre-arranged meeting with local constituents.

Mair approached Cox and immediately started to stab her repeatedly with a large knife, causing her to fall to the ground, the prosecutors said.

He said Mair then removed a gun from a black bag and shot her three times as she lay on the ground. He continued to stab her and was heard to say: “Britain first, keep Britain independent, Britain always comes first, this is for Britain,” the prosecutor said.

Mair then placed his weapons inside a bag and calmly walked away, according to authorities.

A 77-year-old man, named in court as Bernard Carter-Kenny, was also stabbed in the abdomen when he tried to intervene. He is listed in stable condition at a local hospital.

The prosecutor said that while doctors were frantically trying to save Cox’s life, Mair was tracked down less than a mile away, wearing a black baseball cap and carrying a black bag.

As officers approached him, the prosecutor said, Mair stood in the road with outstretched arms and said: “It’s me.”

Once arrested, Mair also told detention officers that he was a “political activist,” the court heard. Inside his bag, police found a single-barrel gun with one round still in the chamber, ammunition, a blood-stained knife and a bloodied mobile phone, authorities said.

Cox, a mother of two who was campaigning for Britain to remain in the European Union at next week’s referendum, died within an hour of the attack.

Mair’s lawyer, Keith Allen, said his client has not indicated what plea would be given in the case, and the Deputy Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot ordered him remanded into custody. She also suggested that Mair undergo a psychiatric evaluation at Belmarsh prison.

“Bearing in mind the name he has just given, he ought to be seen by a psychiatrist,” she said. Mair will be kept in custody at Belmarsh until his next court appearance Monday at the Old Bailey courthouse.

Cox’s death has stunned Britain and brought political campaigning in the European Union referendum, known as the “Brexit,” to a virtual standstill. It’s not yet clear what the impact of the killing will be on the election, which is to be held next week and will likely be close, according to observers.

Both sides in the debate immediately canceled events as a mark of respect, and questions are being asked about the vitriolic tone of the campaign, which has stirred up anti-immigrant and xenophobic feelings among some sections of the electorate.

A search of Mair’s home found newspaper articles about Cox as well as material from right-wing extremist and white supremacist groups, authorities said.

Vigils have taken place across Britain, and heartfelt tributes have poured in from friends and colleagues across the political spectrum, who describe Cox as one of the Labour Party’s rising stars.

Cox had only been a member of Parliament for little more than a year and was a campaigner with aid organizations including Oxfam before entering politics. She had recently spoken up for the plight of refugees, especially Syrian children.

During her first speech in the House of Commons, the Cambridge University graduate said: “Whilst we celebrate our diversity, the thing that surprises me time and time again as I travel around the constituency is we are far more united and have far more in common than that which divides us.

The attack has raised security concerns for other members of Parliament who routinely meet with constituents in open meetings known as “constituent surgeries,” in which they discuss local, national and international issues with residents of their district.

Cox’s sister, Kim Leadbeater, and other family members made an emotional visit to the town center in Birstall Saturday to view the many floral tributes left to their relation. They hugged many who had gathered to pay tribute to Cox and her sister, who spoke for the family, largely focused on the positive parts of Cox’s life and public service.

“For now, our family is broken, but it will mend in time and we will never let Jo leave our lives,” said Leadbeater. She said her sister would live on through her husband Brendan and “through her truly wonderful children, who will always know what an utterly amazing woman their mother was.

“[Jo would] talk about the silent majority who didn’t always shout the loudest, but who she knew were in her corner,” the sister said. “Over the past 48 hours, people have not been silent. They have been vocal and passionate and have spoken from the heart with genuine emotion and no hidden agendas. Jo would have loved it.

“We have to continue this strength and solidarity in the days, months and years to come as part of Jo’s legacy,” she said. “And focus on, as Jo would say, that which unites us and not which divides us.”

On Saturday, Cox’s husband Brendan tweeted: “Very proud of my sister in law Kim who spoke on behalf of us all and did her sister proud #MoreInCommon“

President Obama reportedly phoned Brendan to offer his personal condolences. Shortly after her killing, Cox released a statement saying his wife would have wanted two things to happen now.

“One, that our precious children are bathed in love and two, that we all unite to fight against the hatred that killed her. Hate doesn’t have a creed, race or religion, it is poisonous.”

Brendan Cox’s Twitter avatar, which was a photo of the “Remain” flotilla that was confronted by a “Leave” contingent in what is being deemed sardonically the “Battle on the Thames,” has since changed to a picture of his wife hiking through the woods with their children. Shortly before authorities publicly announced Cox had succumbed to her wounds in a hospital, Brendan sent a wordless tweet, featuring only a photo of his wife dressed casually, smiling wryly and leaning against a rail near a wharf. The family lived on a houseboat on the River Thames while they were in London for Jo Cox’s duties as an MP.

The houseboat has since been covered with dozens of floral bouquets left by mourners.

Associated Press, the Los Angeles Times, and Chicago Tribune staff